Fear the Reaper
by MistressofSins
Summary: The world has been under attack by virus type digimon, and no one knows what's made them so dangerous now. Leah, a young girl, befriends a BlackGuilmon and becomes the first child partnered with a virus type digimon in a decade. With the world slowly devolving into chaos a monster awakens in the digimon's mind. But someone seeks the digital hazard, as well as war. Digimon World AU.
1. Unveiled Darkness

**I know I know. I haven't even finished one of the four books of The Legend of the Seven Deadly Sins yet. But I decided that since it takes me such a long time to actually update one story (especially with me trying to get like, every detail perfect for that particular series as well as fix my writing style) I decided I'd start this story. Hopefully I don't freak out so much about perfection in this one.**

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 **My plan is to update this one between the time it takes for me to update "Gathering Storm". So long story short, I have no idea how long this one is actually going to be. Its just kind of here so you guys have some content to read while you're waiting. Or I suppose if you're a fan of this one, you can read my other series while I work on this one. Have fun I guess.**

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 **A quick note. The italics represent Megidramon's growing consciousness. While obviously BlackGuilmon has little left in him right now, it will begin to grow as the story progresses.**

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Chapter One: Unveiled Darkness

* * *

 _He remembered a voice, light and gentle, calling and asking for his forgiveness. He couldn't remember why, but something in the voice made him want to be sad. Something else in his memories made him want to be furious. He didn't know which was which, and if he should trust the darker feeling or the lighter one. He'd only just reached his rookie form, one that many other digimon ran from because of his color._

 _He wasn't sure why, but that made him extremely lonely and yet also incredibly angry._

* * *

Leah paused a moment, looking quietly into the living room, where the source of her apparent discomfort lie. In the living room was her older brother. The boy was beaming at their parents, still rather young looking for having children about their age. They were both pale and had brown hair, accompanied by smiling brown eyes. But not for her. Never for her. No their happiness was towards her older brother, Josh, and the tiny ball of fluff in his arms.

She'd never liked Patamon. The tiny vaccine type was kind enough, but it only added to her frustration. It was small, about the size of a football and if he didn't have those wing like ears she would have kicked him like one. He was a brown color with a white underbelly, and his big green eyes were happy and smiling. Just like always. Happy without her. Josh, around thirteen years old, was her elder by five years, but watching her brother get praised for everything truly did hurt the eight year old.

Josh and Leah could have been twins, except for the obvious age difference. They just looked that similar, even more so than most siblings. There were of course differences. Josh was tall and lean, with the build of an athlete. His hair was cut short and out of his face, and his eyes were a startling emerald green. Leah's eyes were a less attractive color, more like the color of radioactive sludge. It gave her freckled face a haunted look. Her hair was long and the bangs hung into her face despite how much her mother begged her to let her cut them.

As it was, Leah had been trying to do something, anything, to make her parents proud. She wasn't good at running or playing sports like her older brother, and she didn't have a digimon. In a world like this one, it was becoming more and more uncommon for children to not have a digimon partner. There certainly weren't any massive attacks on the cities anymore from various virus type digimon trying to band together like ten years ago, but children without partners were often frowned upon by others and picked on.

They were trained in schools to be some sort of protection in the city against the threat that still haunted the digital world. Various agencies worked to keep any virus types out of the city in case another uprising like before would occur, one of the most prominent being the Digital Recording and Defence Agency, or DRDA as it was usually referred to.

Though there was no real knowledge of what had caused an uprising from the Dark Area of the Digital World, the beings were carefully watched when they came through the portals set up. There were a few, such as beings like Gallantmon, were allowed through, but most virus types were sent back from where they had come or destroyed.

Not that the child knew this. At her age she was more preoccupied by the injustice that she felt at school from not being allowed to have a digimon of her own. In her mind, the world was cruel for not giving her a digimon and letting other children pick on her and make fun of her. It was cruel for her older brother to treat her like a kid that didn't know anything and for that stupid Patamon to talk to her like she was a baby.

The world was cruel because even though she wished as hard as she could no digignome ever stopped to give her a D-Ark and partner. It was cruel because her parents were always proud of her older brother but never seemed to think anything of the work that she put into anything she did. The girl held her own report card, knowing the scores were less than perfect. She hadn't been doing well in school, bullying being the most appropriate excuse. More than that though, Leah had always been sickly, and had often been left in bed, which did nothing to improve her test scores.

"Perfect test scores," their mother cried happily, clutching a paper. "as always of course. We knew you could do it, Josh!" Their father nodded as if proudly, looking tired from a long day at work, his suit partially undone.

"Good job," he said. "You're going to be a great man one day."

Leah decided it was now or never. She didn't have good grades and she wasn't athletic. She was thin and pale, almost ghostly so. She hardly ever seemed to talk to anyone, even her own family, and she didn't feel very inclined to. But they were at least in a better mood right now, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad this time. She slowly padded across the room, leaving her hiding place in favor of actually walking up to her mother, who would be more lenient. Patamon and Josh seemed to jump, as if forgetting she even lived here.

Leah offered the paper, staring at the floor between her feet and not looking up as her mother frowned at it and looked down. Silently the woman handed it to her husband, letting out a sigh. For a long while there was silence as the man read over the paper. The man quickly crushed the report card and tossed it into the waste bin, turning to his daughter.

"Leah," the man said in a disappointed tone. "When did your grades start slipping like this? I really expected more from you. You won't get anywhere in life if you continue slacking off like this."

Leah felt tears forming in her eyes, and despite wanting to hide them, she felt them falling down her face. Her fists clenched beside her in fury as she fought to reign in her emotions. As young as she was, she utterly failed. She was frustrated, knowing that one particular boy she'd thought had been her friend had ended up hurting her. One other boy in her class hadn't had a partner, and he'd always sat by her because they had become friends, constantly picked on by other students.

His name was Sam, and he'd been her best friend. They'd always played together and often the two could be seen laughing and smiling. Then about a week ago, he'd come to school with an Agumon. The other kids had accepted him, laughing and playing with him happily and Sam seemed to forget about her. When the bullying started on her again, she expected him to say something, anything. They were friends after all. But he just shut his mouth and walked away.

After that, she was alone and her grades began slipping. She didn't tell her parents, or her brother, seeing how they never seemed to make time for her. She stopped spending time outside and stopped playing, which had begun to effect her health again. But she couldn't bring herself to leave home or to talk to the boy with the Agumon who was now like a stranger when he sat next to her in class. The digimon tried to be nice to her at least, but none of the others even talked to her. Her frustration finally boiling over, she exploded.

"You guys are never proud of me," she cried. "You guys always think that Josh and Patamon are the best. You always say he's perfect but I'm not good enough. Why am I not good enough?"

Sobbing, the girl ran from the living room, where her mother let out a pained cry at the suggestion that the girl didn't correctly interpret. She ran up the stairs quickly, ignoring Patamon who was following her the whole way, asking her to talk to him. She slammed the door to her room in his face and crumpled to the floor sobbing. She didn't move for a long while, just crying all of her pain and anger out and ignoring any attempts her brother and his digimon made at peace at the door.

After a long while the two fell silent and finally left, leaving the girl alone by herself. Her sobs quickly became hiccuping cries, then quieted all together as she forced herself to not cry. Daddy hated crying. She didn't want him to think she was any worse now. She sat there silently, hugging her knees to her chest as silence enveloped the house. Tears were beginning to dry on her cheeks, leaving a messy, sticky mess behind, but she didn't care.

Sam hated her now, her only friend. Her family hated her and only ever looked at her big brother, like she was a toy they could throw away when it broke. She sniffled again as she looked around the room, feeling alone now more than ever. The thought came quickly to her mind, and her face became one of determination. She quickly ran to her window and peered out. No one was on the street. She grabbed her backpack, pink and decorated with stickers. She dumped it out and went to her closet, throwing clothes she liked in and then throwing it over her shoulder.

If they didn't want her around, then she'd just leave.

Leah carefully crept down the stairs, trying not to make noise as she glanced through the house. She didn't see Patamon or Josh, so they were probably in the room. As she went down the stairs she paused as it creaked, hearing her parents talking in their room on the first floor. She didn't hear what they were saying, but they didn't seem to notice her. Carefully the eight year old made her way over to the kitchen, frowning as she looked up.

She was too small to reach her favorite snacks, but she didn't want to be hungry. Opening the fridge she dropped several juice boxes into her bag, then added some of Josh's sodas as an afterthought. Maybe he'd be just as upset as she was if he saw some of them were gone. Going to the bread box, she dropped a whole loaf into her bag, which was now beginning to be crowded. She crushed it all in and then grabbed a few fruit snacks from the counter and then zipped the bag.

The noise it made was a lot louder than she would have liked. Freezing, the girl paused at the quietness of the house, afraid someone had heard her. Her parents began their conversation again though, oblivious to the fact that she was there. Slowly she made her way over to the front door, again frowning at yet another problem. It was latched shut, and she was small. Usually she had to have Patamon or Josh open it, but she couldn't go get them. Standing on her toes she reached up to the sliding latch and tried to push it open, her fingertips just brushing the chain. Frustration mounting, she jumped to reach it, making it clatter open loudly. The girl stopped, barely breathing as she listened for any sign that someone had noticed.

Nothing. She wasn't surprised. They hardly ever noticed she was there. The girl stood on her toes to open the door, quickly stepping out into the street and shivering against the quickly cooling night air. Refusing to go back inside though, she quickly tried to shut the door. It closed, but not completely, leaving it obvious that someone had used it. Not that she noticed, proud as she was for her accomplishments so far.

But now she had no idea where to go. She didn't usually walk around in the city by herself. Usually she had Patamon and Josh with her, or mommy was taking her around in the car. She quickly shook the thoughts out her head though and set off in the direction that she thought was where her mother usually took her to go to school. She didn't want to go there, but she didn't want to go back either. As she continued to walk, businesses of the busy town began to pop up, as well as many other pedestrians. Many looked at her questioningly, wondering why such a small child (she looked about five at her height) was wandering around alone. None of them stopped her.

As she walked though, she soon realized she was lost. She felt some fear creeping up on her as she walked around, trying to find where she was on the looping and confusing streets. The faces of many strangers around her made her feel alone and afraid, but she fought back the tears. Her feet were aching and she was lost, but she didn't want to cry. That would mean that she wasn't strong enough. She wanted to be strong enough.

Sirens began to blare, making the girl jump in fear and look around. Many adults were having similar reactions, knowing the sirens better than she did. Though the girl didn't know it, they had been set up to warn of impending danger from a digital threat, specifically a virus type. After the attack ten years ago precautions had been put into place to keep people safe in case it ever happened in again. In the case that a powerful virus type managed to avoid being captured or destroyed by the Rangers that patrolled the streets as their police force or DRDA.

"Warning," a female voice blared over the speakers. "A digital anomaly has occurred. Please seek immediate refuge while the Digital Recording and Defense Agency as well as the Digimon Rangers seek and destroy the target. An extremely powerful being has made its way into the city. The National Digital Warning Service has issued a code red digital being alert. This is not a drill."

While the girl didn't understand what had been said by the woman over the loud speakers, and she didn't know the events of ten years ago other than murmurings that it was something bad, she did realize when everyone else started panicking and trying to run away. Terrified, the child quickly sought the refuge she could find, in an alley way next to the street. Backing into the dirty, trash filled place she found tears falling down her face as people ran past.

People started screaming, children crying and chaos quickly taking hold. Leah let out a loud cry and ran from the commotion, going down the alleyway to where a wooden structure blocked her way. One of the boards was loose, but a scared child could push it open enough to find a way through. It tore at her clothing and arm though, and she cried at the pain and fear. She ducked behind it, quickly finding another alley. This one led to an abandoned building, left to ruin as the store that had once belonged there died out on the streets.

Because of the less than ideal location, no other stores had opened, leaving it there filling with dust and without care it had practically fallen apart. The door to the alley was broken and hanging off its rusted hinges, which the girl didn't notice as she rushed in, thinking of the safety it could provide. Here the sirens were quieter and the screams weren't so loud. Calming a little, she curled up in the corner, crying as she waited.

"I want mommy," she cried mournfully, regretting her earlier decision to leave.

Something else moved in the darkness. A shadow stood and turned to face her. And it was a big shadow. It was taller than she was, much taller. In fact it was almost the same height as her older brother, which made it terrifying. Two amber eyes stared at her, the eyes of a predator, and it made her freeze in terror and cover her mouth to stop the sob from escaping almost on instinct, as if she could hide from it. The shadow stepped forward.

It was a digimon, but it was black. The dinosaur was covered in red marks, the one she noticed the most being on its twitching snout which looked like a big triangle surrounded by three others. Another was on its chest, almost reversed and surrounded by a circle. Similar markings covered its body, all read, while it was mostly black which had made it look like a shadow. The terrifying monster stepped forward, its bat like ears twitching as it watched her.  
Then its stomach growled and it let out a mournful mew without realizing it. The girl blinked as she looked at him, his nose twitching as it took a few tentative steps towards her and her bag. Really, it didn't look at that scary now. It had a big white belly, and it was kind of cute. She realized it was a digimon, and part of her surprise and fear went away. After all, a child who had lived with digimon near her for her entire life had little to fear from one.

"Hello?" she asked, making the creature's head snap up and its eyes shrink. "Who are you? Are you lost too?

The creature didn't respond to her, which confused her. She knew that digimon could speak, and she was confused why this one didn't. She held up her hand to it, earning a growl from him which made her quickly shrink back in terror. It seemed to pause, not liking this though she wasn't sure why. She pulled off her bag and pulled out the loaf of bread with shaking hands. Pulling the wrapper of the store bought brand she tossed a crushed piece to it.

The digimon watched her with unrealizable amber eyes, as if waiting for some trick. When she didn't move again, it slowly stepped forward and sniffed the bread tentatively. Seeing nothing wrong with it, and with his stomach still noisily growling, it snapped up the bread which its sharp teeth made quick work of. Whining at the loss, the digimon stepped forward slightly, to which Leah quickly tossed it another piece. Bit by bit, the digimon seemed to lose some of its fear and step closer with every piece she tossed to it. She smiled as she did, enjoying watching it come closer. It really was cute when it wasn't growling at her, and she wasn't scared of digimon at all. Tossing another piece, she realized she was out of bread. And that it was pretty much right in her face. She blinked up at the watchful amber eyes that were on her, surprise that it was still so close.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I don't have anymore."

* * *

 _The tiny creature had food, and he wanted it. He was only a rookie form after all, and he hadn't eaten in a while, not after running into a portal on accident and ending up here. They were becoming more common in the digital world, but that wasn't where he was. It must be the human world, if the tiny being in front of him was what he thought. Still, it didn't look dangerous. It looked almost happy to see him. It brought forth a feeling he hadn't known had existed in him before.  
It was longing. This time, the anger was gone._

* * *

The creature blinked at her slowly, as if waking suddenly from a long nap. She carefully reached towards its nose, hoping it would let her pet it. The creature began to growl again, making her gasp in fear and pull her hand back as its eyes became feral. Scared again, she shook in front of it, making the creature's face seem conflicted. Seeing how it hadn't bit her yet, she slowly tried again. She just didn't want to be alone.

This time, the creature let her rub its snout gently, and it seemed to blink at her. She was careful not to hurt it, seeing how she'd played with Patamon before and her brother had gotten mad at him for hurting him. This thing was a lot bigger than Patamon, and probably stronger. She smiled a little at it as it started to make a low humming noise, seemingly surprised that it enjoyed the comfort. That soon erupted into a full purr, which sounded almost like a reptilian growl, only much softer and gentler than a growl.

She laughed, happy to know she'd made her strange new friend. She wanted to rush home right then and there, and tell her parents about her new friend. Then they would think she was the coolest, for making friends with such a big digimon. He was way bigger than Patamon, and that meant she had done better than her brother. The creature nuzzled its head harder into her hand, making her giggle a little as it did. This sound seemed to please the creature, because its purr became louder, and its tail swished a little. Its front claws, hanging near her, didn't scare her.

"My name's Ailah," making the creature jump a little at her voice but soon continue to purr as its intelligent eyes never left her face. "I'm a human. Nice to meet you. I don't have a partner because the digignomes haven't given me one yet. But I'm glad you're my friend now."

She liked him. His eyes were locked on hers, soaking in her words as she spoke as if everything else was trivial. It was a lot better than older kids and adults who just stared at her while she talked like she didn't know what she was saying. It was a lot better than the bullies who always looked mean and scary when they talked to her. The creature instead simply continued to purr and stare unblinkingly as she talked, watching her carefully.

"What's your name?" she continued, undeterred by his silence. "Do you want to come home with me? Mommy and daddy will be proud when they see the strong friend I've made. You're...you won't leave me, right?"

* * *

 _A child. It was a child. And a young one. She seemed lonely, just like him. She also seemed broken in a way. He could see pain in her eyes when she mentioned "mommy" and "daddy", names he was unfamiliar with. Her innocence was strong. Growing up in the Dark Area, he'd been denied his. He'd had to mentally grow past his age as a rookie stage digimon in that place. Then she asked if he was going to leave her. She looked so hurt when she said that._

 _He didn't want to see her hurt._

* * *

The creature didn't speak at all, but instead suddenly turned and walked around the girl. Leah, jumping, felt her eyes go wide as the huge digimon went behind her. But then it pushed her forward with its nose to make room for itself and curled up behind her like a giant cat. It didn't close its eyes, but its purring didn't stop either as she leaned back without thinking about it seek the warmth he provided. He was very warm for a reptile, and with it being so cold, she was glad for some of it being pushed away by the dinosaur digimon. Then her own stomach growled, and she smiled sheepishly.

She pulled out a juicebox and some fruit snacks, quickly opening both and readying them for consumption. As she began to drink them, the digimon watched her eating her food. Seeing he was still hungry too, she opened the others and began putting them fearlessly (or ignorantly) into his mouth. He never bit her and was extremely careful when her hand was still close, and she giggled as she ate her own food. Satisfied and full again, she frowned when she noticed all her food was gone. She stuffed the trash into the corner behind the digimon and zipped her bag closed.

However the dinosaur like digimon quickly raised its head. Its eyes narrowed into slits, not at all like the friendly eyes that she had seen before on his face. It immediately stood when she squeaked in surprise and fear at his change, stepping in front of her protectively as she leaped up in fear. The digimon still towered over the girl, but it was leaned forward into a less cute and more feral pose, like its front legs were going to help it either attack or run. It began to growl in a warning tone, one that said it was unhappy with whatever had gained its interest.

A digimon ranger appeared, his uniform making him easily noticeable by the uniform he was wearing. He was in a blue and white jacket with blue pants, some sort of machine with a screen over his eyes. He touched his earpiece as he glared at her new friend, who continued to growl. His eyes were blue, and his hair was rather long and blonde. On his shoulder was a Kudamon, a white digimon with short legs that wrapped around his neck like a scar. Purple markings, as well as a holy ring around her neck, gave her a more appealing look than the dinosaur, not that the girl minded.

"I've found the anomaly," the ranger reported. "In the west quadrant of the city. Rookie level Virus type digimon. Species: BlackGuilmon."

Leah frowned as she looked at the ranger. He didn't look very nice right now, and he kept glaring at her friend. While she didn't understand everything he had said, she was aware that "BlackGuilmon" was her new friend's name. She took a step back from him, farther into the corner, and looked up fearfully at the ranger and his digimon partner. The small vaccine type's black tipped ears twitched, and her pretty green eyes suddenly widened as she saw the girl. The tiny creature began to bristle more at the larger rookie, her eyes portraying her anger at the scene she no doubt thought was unfolding in front of her.

"Damian," she hissed. "There's a child!"

The Ranger immediately tensed in surprise as he heard this, his eyes quickly sweeping the area for any sign of the child his partner had mentioned. Leah was so small that he almost didn't notice her behind the mass of black muscles that blocked his view. When he did notice her however, his eyes widened in apparent horror that the girl didn't understand. Why was he scared? BlackGuilmon was really nice even if he looked scary. He quickly pulled out his D-Arc, nearly ripping the light golden strap off of his belt. Around the screen there was a similarly colored ring. He immediately slashed a blue card through the slot in the side.

"Digimodify," he cried. "Digivolution Activate!"

"Kudamon digivolve to," she cried. "Reppamon!"

His partner leaped off of his shoulder, glowing brightly as she was circled by an off white egg looking structure. As it glowed too, it shattered outwards into data as she now took a new form. She was like a large yellow fox with a mask. Though the yin and yang symbol was on its back legs, the feature the girl noticed most was a large eye blinking off of the blade like tail. She crouched slightly, growling a warning to the virus type digimon in front of her, and he returned the sound with a far more savage sounding one.

"Reppamon," her partner cried. "Distract that thing while I get the girl to safety!"

"Beast Fang Frenzy," she immediately cried in response, launching an attack at BlackGuilmon.

She leaped forward with her claws outstretched, ready to tear into her opponent. Snarling, the virus type leaped to the side and she followed, making him growl more. He retaliated with his own attack. He opened his mouth and gathered a powerful fire attack in his jaws. As he spit it out, he called out the name of the attack, hitting Reppamon squarely in the face and making her yelp in pain. Her tail flicked in an angry way, making her growl slightly at it.

"Pyro Grenade," came his voice, sounding almost too old to be a rookie digimon.

The Digimon Ranger quickly saw his chance and leaped towards the girl, quickly trying to grab her and drag her away from what he saw as a dangerous threat. He grabbed her arm, picking her up quickly and backing away from the two snarling digimon. Leah, afraid of the stranger and not sure why he wanted to get her away from her new friend, immediately started crying. BlackGuilmon's head snapped up at the sound as the surprised Ranger tried to assure her he meant no harm. Snarling, the dinosaur charged past the digimon and slammed into her partner.

* * *

 _The child was crying, because the other human was trying to take her away. He felt desperate to be with the girl, to not be separated now that he had finally received the kindness he had been denied for so long. He couldn't let him take her, and he didn't want to hear her cry. His anger flared again, but he knew he couldn't hurt the boy. His partner wouldn't take too kindly to that. And he didn't want to hurt or scare the child more._

* * *

The ranger yelped in surprise and dropped the girl on top of the dinosaur like digimon, who she quickly threw her arms around. BlackGuilmon snarled at the digimon ranger. The older boy, around sixteen, blinked in surprise at the way the virus type let the girl cling to his back and sob. She was small enough that he could easily carry her around on his back at this size. Still growling, his partner made to grab the girl but the boy quickly motioned her back a moment. The two blinked at the creature, still growling at them but looking much calmer now.

"He's," Reppamon finally said quietly. "not hurting her? I thought we were told that all virus types were dangerous."

"He doesn't look too dangerous right now," the boy said in the same confused tone as his partner. "He looks a lot more calm now. Do you think he was...trying to protect her? And that's why he reacted so badly to us?"

The digimon didn't have an answer for her partner, though she continued to frown at the large rookie with the girl clinging to his back. Silence lapsed for a while, broken only by the sound of the girl still sobbing into the dinosaur's shoulder. The creature she was clinging to didn't relax and didn't seem to blink as he stared at the two of them, waiting for them to prove that he needed to attack again. The girl finally seemed to calm and stopped crying, chancing to look up again from the virus type digimon's shoulders as she noticed the fighting had stopped.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked, his eyes never leaving the still tensed virus type. "Where are your parents?"

"I ran away," the girl said quietly, to the boy's obvious surprise. "No one likes me so I went away. But then I met BlackGuilmon and he wanted to be my friend. Are you going to make him go away? Please don't make him leave!"

At the girl's distressed tone, the dinosaur like digimon growled his misgivings at them and tensed more. Reppamon also tensed, but she frowned at the child and didn't try to attack. Rather, she was confused about the child's statements and was only tensed in case the other digimon tried to attack. He seemed perfectly content to keep his distance though and didn't mind when the child wrapped her arms around his neck again and sent the Digimon Ranger pleading eyes from next to his head. In fact, he didn't really seem to respond to the fact that she was there at all.

The ranger opened his mouth, trying to figure out how to explain that the child that it would be far better if she were separated from the dangerous virus type before she ended up getting hurt. However his programmed responses fell dead as she started to pet the creature's nose, reaching in front of his massive mouth and getting a reptilian purr from it for her efforts. It almost seemed to relax a little more, though its eyes told him quickly that it wasn't completely relaxed and was ready to attack at any signs of danger.

Not to himself no, but the girl. It baffled him to no end. After all, the only time he'd seen similar reactions from digimon who were trying to protect their partners. The thought was a confusing one that didn't make sense, especially with everything he'd been told and what little he remembered from when the virus types had attacked the city a decade before. A sudden giggle made them all look up in surprise at a small white being that darted over the heads of the dino like digimon and the girl that was still perched on his back. As the creature chattered at them in a language that none of them understood, the child's eyes became wide with wonder.

She reached towards the creature, who giggled more and circled around her hand before dropping something into it. Blinking, the child pulled it close and looked down, gasping happily at what she now found there. It was a D-Arc, like the older boy and like her older brother had. Only the strap and circle around the screen were dark black. The giggling creature then circled the heads of the startled rangers. Leah, still grinning, held the device out for the dinosaur like creature to sniff carefully and uncertainly. The girl's happiness seemed to convince it that it was okay though.

* * *

 _A digivice. They were talked about by many wild digimon in the Dark Area as something to be feared, as if it controlled the mind of the digimon paired with the human. But he didn't feel any different, and not all of them hated it. Some of the older ones looked up mournfully at the mention of digivices, a look of loss and pain on their features. Those were the ones who had once had human partners. What had happened to the pairs, well they didn't tell._

 _Still, the child was innocent enough. He doubted even if the thing had the power that she would try and take over his mind. Besides, he didn't want to leave her. She was the only being that had shown him any kindness in a long time. They couldn't make him leave now that they were bound together by this strange piece of plastic._

* * *

"Look," Leah cried happily. "We're partners now! I knew the digignomes would give me one. I'm glad it's you, BlackGuilmon! You're my friend."

The creature finally seemed to relax, though his misgivings about the ranger and his vaccine type partner were clear. He slowly stood and straightened his body, though his natural walk let his arms swing by his sides and gave the girl perched on his back the perfect place for her small body to fit comfortably even while he walked. And for a child her size, he was perfect to give her a piggy back ride, which he didn't seem to mind to do. Maybe he just wanted to assure himself that his new partner was still close. The creature's eyes became far more friendly, no longer the feral slits that warned of coming pain. Reppamon dedigivolved into Kudamon, quickly returning to her place around her partner's neck, but she continued to frown. Her partner, likewise as confused, reached again for the device in his ear.

"BlackGuilmon is no longer a threat," he informed his superiors.

"Good," a woman's voice came through. "So he is destroyed or returned to the digital world-"

"No," the boy said. "And I don't think we'll be sending him back either."

"What?" the woman asked. "but your orders were to-"

"Theresa he has a partner," he said, met by silence from the other end. "I'm serious. We were standing right here when the digignome dropped a D-Arc into the little girl's hands." The silence continued for a few long moments until finally another woman's voice came over the intercom, the voice of his superior.

"Bring them to headquarters," she ordered calmly. "I need to talk to them both. And do try and figure out where the girl's parents are."

"Roger," he said, moving his hand away from the device.

He found BlackGuilmon's eyes on him, clearly very intelligent and very aware of at least some of what was going on. His partner, still on his back, seemed to have less of an idea. A backpack was on her shoulders, supporting the idea that the child had been trying to run away from home, which made finding her parents even harder. It wasn't like they'd lost her in the crowd, but they'd still probably be looking for her. The girl looked tired, so she'd been walking for some time. Not that her new partner seemed very inclined to try and make her move. Outside, the all clear sounded.

"Attention residents," the female voice called again after a short siren. "The Digital Anomaly has been dealt with. We ask that you remain inside for a while longer while we ensure your farther safety. Thank you for your patience and cooperation."

Sighing, he digimon ranger pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a long day. He looked up at the watchful eyes of the virus type digimon and the girl who was still clinging to him while yawning and looking happily down at her D-Arc. Silently he motioned for BlackGuilmon to follow. He paused a moment, his eyes narrowing distrustfully, but quietly decided to follow the ranger back out into the alleyway that he had earlier taken refuge in.

* * *

 **So there you go. Leah meets her partner, BlackGuilmon. Since he's Megidramon (a being that is different from the one seen in season 3 for a few reasons) he doesn't have the happy and child like attitude of Guilmon. He's also more mature because 1) I was partnering him with a child and 2) the digital world is a lot different from usual because of the event from ten years ago. What that is, well you'll learn soon enough.**

 **Anyway I hope you guys have enjoyed the story so far. There will definitely be a whole bunch of adventure to this story, which you'll eventually see. For right now though we're only just starting to set up the story. There will be a lot more.**


	2. Misgivings

**So here goes chapter two, because I'm attempting to work on the other chapter while slowly updating this one. I'm kind of alternating between the two of them. This one moves at a slower pace (at least so far) and will probably not take as long as the other chapters to update. Again, I'm not stressing over every single little detail so it should be okay. Anyway, here we go with the next chapter. I don't know who you are, but I kind of took your idea of a Renamon partner with a boy. So thanks I guess "Guest".**

* * *

 **Also yes, I am working on chapter six of Gathering Storm. I alternate between working on that story and this one, meaning I've actually gotten quite a bit done more quickly than I had done before because I like this story and know what I'm going to actually write. Anyway, besides all that, I hope you're excited for new chapters of both.**

* * *

Chapter Two: Misgivings

* * *

Leah felt like crying again. She was tired, hungry, and had no idea where she was. The loud people in suits kept running around and trying to get her to answer questions she didn't understand. Before, she'd always been annoyed that adults and big kids wouldn't talk to her or tell her things, but now she was glad she'd never been told. All of it seemed way too confusing for her. She was glad though that they hadn't taken BlackGuilmon away from her. Mostly because the black dinosaur digimon kept growling at anyone who tried to move him or the girl.

The people had stopped trying to question her for a while, so she was sitting on the floor with her back against BlackGuilmon. With his partner starting to be less stressed out now, he seemed to think the danger to her (mentally or otherwise) had passed and had laid down, curling up behind her again and every now and then purring quietly. His watchful amber eyes however let everyone know that he certainly wasn't very calm and wasn't very happy with their interrogation of his young partner. She silently clutched at her D-Arc.

"Shadow," she said quietly. "I want to go home."

The creature didn't speak. He hadn't spoken at all since she had first met him, not that the child minded. Sometimes people talked too much and didn't listen to her. BlackGuilmon listened to her at least. And he didn't seem to mind that she had shortened his name to make it easier for her to say. In response he just let out another purr and turned his head enough to place it in her lap, like a giant cat curled up around her for comfort. This did calm her a little bit, and so she relaxed a little and pet his nose quietly. He didn't move.

* * *

 _She was cute, he had to admit. Leah, was it? The girl was tiny and fragile, and in the back of his mind he felt that he didn't want to like it as much as he did. This made him frown. Why wouldn't he like it? He didn't know, but he felt frustration and pain at the contact. It was barely there though, and quickly disappeared as the girl relaxed and started petting his nose. He had been lonely for too long to even give the ideas much thought._

* * *

Shadow was glad at least the humans here weren't that cruel. The woman who headed the operation was a stern woman, tall and thin with dark black hair pulled up in a bun and dark brown eyes. Seeing her had immediately made him bristle. She just looked like the kind of person who would be terrible with the tiny creature still clinging to his back at the time. It seemed his fears were unfounded though because she seemed to ignore the overprotective reptile and spoke quietly to the child, quickly calming her again, though she was still miserable. She'd even made sure to care for the small wound that the girl had on her arm before he had met her earlier.

He opened his eyes and looked up again as the woman made her way into the room again with the boy Damian and his partner Kudamon wrapped around his shoulders like a scarf again. Leah seemed to refuse to look up at them, just hugging her backpack close to her chest. Behind the woman was a large dog like digimon, a champion if he remembered correctly. Whether it chose to remain in that form or simply tried to scare him with the knowledge that it hunted Virus type digimon he didn't know and didn't care. He looked like a doberman pinscher, with glowing red eyes and a spiked color around its neck. He growled quietly to the virus type, barely kept in check by his partner's stern gaze and steady hand on his back.

"We're still looking for your parents," the woman informed the child. "Once they're aware of your...situation, you'll be going home."

"And Shadow will come with me?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," the woman replied. "Those government officials may not agree, but I will not be responsible for separating a girl from her partner, especially since he actually seems to care."

Though the girl wasn't sure what the woman had completely said, she looked up and slowly uncurled from her position, smiling and grabbing Shadow's head. The creature purred in response to her attack on his face, but didn't seem to mind it either way. The woman smiled at the two of them, though her Partner didn't look so convinced that he was as good as he was being right now. The girl didn't understand why everyone seemed to scared of her partner and just cuddled him closer. The creature made no move to pull away or make her move.

"Tammy," Dobermon growled, seeming to surprise Damian and his partner that the creature had used her real name. "Are you sure its smart?"

"No," her reply came instantly. "But after what happened ten years ago...there were many of my friends who weren't the same after losing their partners, even those who'd barely known them. I won't force a child to become like that. It's not like I'm saying we'll leave them to their own devices. Perhaps training them to join our organization would be better, considering you'd get to keep an eye on her more. Provided her parents agree of course."

Dobermon growled again, his red eyes flashing as he turned to meet the amber eyes of the rookie curled around the girl in front of him. When he looked at the child, staring at him with hopeful eyes even if she didn't fully understand the gravity of the situation that she was faced with. He wanted to growl and snap at his tamer, remind her why it wasn't a possibility. But looking at her face...he saw many of his friends that he'd known when he and Tammy had been much younger. He saw their agony when their partners turned against them, only to somehow regain their sanity and be shoved back into the digital world without knowing what had truly happened.

He understood her pain on the subject. Many of their old friends hadn't been the same after that. Some of them had been bright individuals and had once been very kind. After the loss of their partners though they'd been ridiculed just for being partnered with the virus types and seemed to just kind of shut down. On one hand, if the child was allowed to keep her partner she would no doubt face the same ridicule, but if she was separated from the creature she'd be worse off. At least if they were brought into their organization he'd be able to make sure that the virus type didn't do any damage and she wouldn't be forced to say goodbye. Still growling a little he finally relented and nodded his agreement to his partner's statement.

The child giggled happily and jumped up, running over to the huge dog like monster. Though she only reached his chest, when Dobermon lowered his head towards her she threw her arms around his nose and hugged him like she had done with her own partner earlier. He didn't wag his tail or anything ridiculous like that, but his eyes did soften at the innocent gesture. The girl's partner raised his head, watching him carefully in case he would try to hurt the girl. That was something the vaccine type could at least respect. He certainly seemed more concerned for this girl mental and physical welfare than any other digimon he'd seen.

The large dog like digimon carefully shook his head and stepped back, making the child let him go. She happily returned to where her partner was. Shadow carefully righted himself so that he was now balanced on his back legs and tail, still resting but more alert as well. The girl, completely comfortable in his presence now curled up against his stomach between his arms. Dobermon shook his head a little but turned to leave the room. Letting out a quiet sigh, his partner, Tammy Willis (head of the city's Digimon Rangers) turned back to the child.

"Is there anything else you could tell us that could help us find your parents?" she asked. The girl quickly shook her head, making the woman sigh again. "All right. It shouldn't be too difficult. Stay here until we come back."

The child nodded as the woman turned and left the room again. That left Damian and Kudamon standing in the room awkwardly for a moment, looking unsure what he was going to do. Finally the boy shrugged and pulled out a chair from a table not far away. Sitting down in it, he turned to face the two of them. Shadow blinked slowly at him, no longer seeing him and his partner as a threat. Rather, the two had managed to remain a nearly constant presence while the girl had been questioned. This had helped keep her calm with a person nearby who wasn't quite a stranger to her. Leah had seemed to have forgiven them for earlier too.

"So," the boy said awkwardly. "Why did you run away from home?" The girl looked down quickly, scooting back farther into Shadow's chest.

"Mommy and daddy always treat my brother like he's better because he had a partner," she said quietly. "And then daddy was mad at my grades...and no one plays with me because I didn't have a partner."

She glanced up, seeing the older boy giving her a strange look, like he didn't understand what she was saying. Then he just looked like he was pitying her. She quickly hid her face into her backpack again, not wanting to look at him. Leah wasn't sure what was worse, being treated like she was dumb or like she was a kid that didn't know anything. She knew plenty of things! She felt Shadow's chin resting gently on her shoulders as he started purring to her again, her whole body thrumming a little with the noise. Despite herself she giggled at the tickling sensation it caused.

All at once though, Shadow's purring stopped and she quickly jumped and looked around the room as he started growling. This sound wasn't gentle or pretty at all. It was scary and was one that she knew he used to tell people to go away. She couldn't see why he was angry, but she tumbled over as he stood and leaped in front of her. His eyes were feral again, like an angry beast, and he was staring at the far wall like he was looking to tear something apart if it came down to it. Damian and Kudamon jumped up in surprise when they also noticed this, looking nervous. Even Leah had to admit that Shadow didn't look happy or cute right now. She quickly jumped up, the motion making Shadow take a step back towards her as he continued to growl.

A strange light appeared, blinking open almost like a door and sitting in the wall like one, though there had been nothing there before. Damian quickly jumped up as well, turning to face the strange occurrence but putting himself between the girl and her partner and whatever was happening on that side of the room. From out of this portal, stepped a young man. He was wearing all black, and a white porcelain mask hid his face. The hood on his hoodie was pulled up, not quite hiding the strands of brown hair hanging down into his face. On his shoulder was a Patamon.

Or at least, it kind of looked like a Patamon. It was a dark purple color with gold eyes. And it didn't look very friendly. It giggled at Damian and his partner in an unsettling way, making the girl whimper a little in fear. The sound, slight though it was, brought the stranger's attention towards the girl and her partner. Giggling the little patamon like digimon flew towards her, circling around her and making Shadow snarl at it. He seemed wise enough to actually fly away from the snarling creature and back towards the boy with a sigh.

"What did you see, Tsukaimon?" the strange tamer asked.

"Its definitely him," he sighed. "But he's got a partner. I didn't think guys like him got partners."

"It doesn't matter," the boy said. "Maybe it would be easier this way."

"Hey," Damian growled. "Keep your partner back!" The boy seemed to give Damian a long and hard look.

"Tsukaimon isn't my partner," he said. "We're just working for the same person."

"And who would that be?" Kudamon demanded.

"Blah blah blah," Tsukaimon groaned. "You guys talk too much. Just do it already, T!"

The boy raised a strange sort of D-arc, almost looking as if it were made of dark black crystal. The line that shone off of it seemed dull and dead, making the girl shudder though she didn't really know why. Kudamon and Damian both bristled, but it was nothing compared to the roar that suddenly came from Shadow's mouth. It seemed he knew what the deal was with those strange digivices, and he didn't like it one bit. Snarling and showing all of his teeth, he prepared to lunge forward. Quickly tensing he was ready to jump forward. Tsukaimon though gave a giggle again as he flapped his wings, hanging in the air around "T".

* * *

 _The people in black were back. They'd attacked him before and sent many digimon crashing into the human world. There had even been a few unfortunate times where he'd seen humans and their partners come crashing into the human world. Most of the time, they managed to survive the trip, but he'd seen a few cases where they hadn't. They were causing random portals to pop up too, which is how he'd gotten here. They were bad news, and he didn't want them anywhere near Leah._

* * *

Leah blinked in confusion, before there was a bright light under her feet. She looked down, not sure what she was looking at. It looked dark, like some sort of carpet was under her feet, but it was a pretty blue and seemed to shine as it moved. She'd never seen a carpet that moved before. Then she started falling into the carpet and realized she wasn't actually standing on anything. What she had previously assumed was a carpet was actually water somewhere beneath her. Leah held tightly to her backpack and D-Arc as she let out a scream, thinking she was glad she was wearing brown shorts and a pink shirt instead of a dress.

Shadow whirled around when he heard her scream, lunging towards her and trying to grab her. He missed, but then gave a yelp as someone pushed him from behind, making him go tumbling after her. Unable to stop their fall, he reached out towards her instead. The terrified girl, seeing one of the few beings she felt like she could trust, quickly latched onto his clawed hand with one of her own. Immediately the virus type digimon pulled her close, wrapping his body around her protectively and growling quietly as the portal above them closed.

"Hold your breath," Shadow growled to her.

The girl quickly did as she was told, taking a deep breath and then holding it. Within moments they had slammed into the water, which hurt. Shadow had taken most of the damage by turning her away from the fall, but that didn't stop it from hurting. She almost sucked in a breath but managed to not do so. Shadow quickly let her go, grabbing onto the back of her shirt in his teeth and kicking with his powerful legs towards the surface. When her head finally broke it, she coughed and sputtered, trying to catch her breath. Storm clouds were rolling overhead though, making the water choppy and making her cough more as water threatened to swamp them.

Shadow continued to swim, struggling a little against the current. Luckily her partner was strong, so he dragged her along at a good pace. Leah held tighter to her bag and her D-Arc. Hopefully the strange device wouldn't stop working if it got wet, and even though all the clothes she'd brought with her were now wet, she didn't want to lose them. Her arms and legs stung from where they'd been hit by impacting the water, and she could almost swear she heard voices. She couldn't hear much over the wind blowing harder. Soon, rain began to fall too, making it harder for her to see. Shadow didn't waver though, heading steadily towards shore.

Leah couldn't swim. She'd always been sick and had never been taught how, especially because that meant getting wet. Not too long ago that would have been a death sentence for the sickly girl. Her health had gotten better, but her parents and brother would be horrified to see her in the water for both reasons. Even Patamon, who was a relatively new addition would have been quick to jump to help her if he had been there. As it was, the powerful rookie that was her partner was taking good care of her for the moment, though even he was beginning to have trouble.

A white head with purple markings and green eyes popped out of the water. Leah blinked, having recognized a rather popular digimon, Gomamon. They were vaccine types, which after the attack of virus types on the cities where people lived had begun to appear in even greater numbers than before. Though the creature looked a little unsure of Shadow, it reached up with its clawed fins to help push him out of the water. Shadow, noticing the touch, tensed a moment, before allowing the sea animal to help push him towards shore where he could get his young tamer out of harm's way before she ended up getting hurt.

Despite her size, Gomamon was strong enough in the water to easily push the strong rookie towards the shore, which was growing harder to see. Leah wasn't scared though as Shadow continued making his way to shore with the help of the little vaccine type digimon. Soon she felt him release her shirt to catch her carefully in his arms as he made his way out of the water and carefully set her down. Leah sniffled quietly, still holding her things close and glancing down at the D-Arc. The screen was still glowing softly in response to entering the digital world, though that was fading. It looked like their improved swim hadn't broken it.

Gomamon quickly hopped out of the water, turning to watch the two of them carefully as Leah started crying quietly. Shadow was quick to step forward, hugging her quietly as he watched the other rookie carefully for any signs that he needed to attack it. She frowned at the virus type, but seemed content to just watch. Through the rain Leah could see five more figures approaching. As they got closer she could soon see that they were three humans and two digimon. Two of the approaching figures were boys, one older than her brother and one about her own age. The girl was around her brother's age and a familiar sight.

The girl was rather tall and pretty, Leah thought, and she recognized her. She often hung out with her older brother, which is why the girl was confused why she was here. She wore long pants and a stylish purple shirt, which were both soaked through. Her sandals were certainly not meant for a long trip with even short heels on them, but she seemed to not have much trouble running in them. Her hair was bright blonde, flying behind her as she ran with the other two, her lavender eyes locked in surprise at the small figure she saw.

Next to her was her partner, a Coronamon. He was a cute little orange digimon that almost resembled a tiny lion. He had arm pieces that matched his head piece, which flamed like the tip of his tail. His dark gray eyes had widened with recognition, but also suspition as he looked at Shadow. The girl's D-Arc, like her partner, was close by and had a fiery orange strap and ring. She just looked rather scared of Leah's new partner, which made Shadow growl quietly. It wasn't loud enough to be heard over the rain, but Leah could find it.

To her left was the younger boy, a little older than Leah was now, maybe ten or so. He looked extremely nervous of the virus type that was so close to her. He was fairly small, with wide blue eyes that spoke volumes to the fear he had. His black hair was mostly plastered to his face by the wind and rain, though he had some of it hidden under his small red cap. He also wore a red t-shirt and black shorts, almost like he'd been going to practice when he'd suddenly ended up here. His partner, much taller than him, was very pretty.

She was a Renamon, one of the tallest rookie digimon she'd ever seen next to Shadow. Her fur was a bright yellow color, though her underbelly was white and there were purple marks on her legs. Her eyes, a pretty jade color, were narrowed as she followed her partner carefully. The long purple gloves didn't hide the fact that her front paws were clinched into fists. Her partner's D-Arc, which he had in his hand in case he needed to use it quickly, had the same color as her fur for its strap and ring.

The last boy, the oldest, was alone. She could assume that he was pretty much Gomamon's partner, since she seemed to be sticking fairly close to her. He glared at them, though he kept his D-Arc close too. His was a purple color, not unlike the color that Gomamon's markings were. He had a sort of punk look to him. Black hair cut short in the back but long in the front, with his bangs being died red, hung into his face because of the rain, clinging to the skin. His eyes, whether they were meant to be that color or he had contacts in, were also red, though not the blood red of Shadow's marks. He wore a black shirt and pants, both covered in rips and skulls, making the girl nervous. The group was quickly approaching, making Shadow bristle more.

"Leah?" the girl, Hailey, gasped. "Leah, what are you doing here?"

"And why are you with him?" Coronamon asked suspiciously.

"This is Shadow," she said quickly. "He's my partner, see? The digignomes gave me a D-Arc and everything!"

At this the whole group seemed to pause, just staring at her as she held up her D-Arc. Shadow said nothing, watching them carefully with his amber eyes in case they should make any suspicious moves. When nothing happened for a while, Leah wondered if she'd said something wrong. The two vaccine types and data type digimon all shared surprised glances, as if trying to figure out a mystery behind this. The punk boy crossed his arms and glared at the girl accusingly. Leah sniffled again under his gaze, not noticing Shadow snarl at him for it. The digimon all bristled for a fight, but Hailey stepped forward.

"Whoa," she said. "Take it easy guys. They did just take a pretty bad fall. Why don't we all start by introducing ourselves? Well, you know Coronamon and I."

"I-I'm Jay," the younger boy said, looking like he currently wanted to disappear. "And this is my partner, Renamon."

"Pleased to meet you," she mumbled politely, still eying Shadow uncertainly. Gomamon, watching her still glaring partner, sighed and stepped forward, a friendly smile on her face.

"My name is Gomamon," she said gently. "I was the one who helped you. And this is my partner, Luke. Don't let his looks fool you. He can be sweet deep down."

"Yeah," Hailey sighed. "And he looks like he wanted to be paired with Shadow. What type of digimon is that anyway?" She pulled out her D-Arc, which identified the digimon she was looking at through her partner's eyes. "BlackGuilmon, virus type rookie. Its Pyro Grenade and Virus Breath attacks will leave you begging for a quick defeat."

"Comforting," Coronamon mumbled.

"Like I'd want to be paired with a virus type," Luke snapped.

Leah jumped at the unexpected noise, then started crying. She was tired, cold, confused and had no idea where she was. Immediately at the sound, Shadow's eyes became far more feral and he showed all of his teeth to Luke, making the boy rather nervous. He glanced at his partner, who just crossed her small fins like arms and gave him a pointed look. Coronamon face palmed on the other side of his partner as Hailey turned and gave the boy a glare. Even Renamon sighed as his partner looked unsure what to do.

"Way to go," Hailey growled. "Good job. Do you ever think before you speak?"

"Sh-She's a stupid kid," Luke said nervously over the sound of Shadow's clearly audible growling. He turned his attention instead to his partner. "Aren't you supposed to protect me or something?"

"Always," Gomamon sighed.

"I can sense he doesn't want to attack us," Renamon added unblinkingly. "or I would have already dealt with the problem."

"Besides," Gomamon added. "you made her cry. Try a little tact, Luke."

Turning her attention instead to the tiny girl curled up in her partner's arm, Hailey quickly stepped forward, obviously trusting that Renamon wasn't lying about him not wanting to attack. Shadow watched her carefully, but stopped growling as he came close, and the girl started patting the girl's wet hair gently. The girl quickly started calming by the familiar touch, her sobs soon becoming hiccuping noises that soon died out all together. Carefully reaching forward, Hailey drew the distressed girl to her chest and hugged her, soon feeling the girl throw her arms around her neck.

"Its okay," she said. "Why don't you tell me what happened. How did you meet Shadow?"

"I ran away," the girl said, still sounding like she might burst into tears. "everyone was mean to me for not having a partner. Then the sirens went off and I ran into Shadow, who was really nice and let me pet him. The rangers tried to separate us, but they decided we could stay together after the digignome gave me a D-Arc. Dobermon and Ms. Willis were really nice about it. But then the scary guy in black with the Tsukaimon showed up and we fell in the water."

Her testimony was met by an uneasy silence. Leah didn't look up, scared how everyone else would react. Shadow however could clearly see the fear that was etched onto the faces of the other children. Seeing how they were just as uneasy about the strangers in black (so probably not working with them) and seemed familiar with their particular portals led him to believe that they could be somewhat trusted. While he still didn't appreciate his partner bursting into tears, he no longer growled at the boy Luke. She had already stopped crying, so though he frowned he didn't growl.

* * *

 _Leah had stopped crying. He was glad for that. He felt so desparate to be with her, like he'd finally found something he'd been missing. Sometimes anger and pain would surface, but he quickly buried them again. Even if he'd lived another life before becoming a digiegg again, like so many other digimon before him, she'd never hurt him. This time however the anger was a little different. It was still there, like his past self didn't know how to live without it there, but this time he was mad that someone had made her cry. That's why he had reacted so strongly. Now he just felt protective of the little girl, not really anything else. She was shivering, having walked all day and now being soaked. They needed to get out of the rain._

* * *

"So she ended up here just like the rest of us," Gomamon said with wide eyes. "because the people in black sent her here through a portal. But they fell from so high up!"

"Its a good thing they landed in the water then," Coronamon said.

"That still should have done some damage," Renamon pointed out. "I think I saw Shadow curl up around her, but we'll have to check them both for injuries."

"You can't be serious," Luke growled. "We're not taking them with us."

Shadow wanted to snarl again, but this time he was surprised when instead, Hailey stood. Her eyes were flaming as she turned around and stalked over to the boy, slapping him hard across the face. Jay jumped at the noise and fled behind Renamon. Everyone else in the group looked stunned, except Coronamon, who had once again put a gloved hand to his face in exasperation. Luke on the other hand just put a hand to his stinging cheek and blinked as the angry girl now pointed and accusing finger in his face.

"You need an attitude check," she snarled fiercely. "I don't care if he's a virus type, he's done a good job protecting her so far, so he's not like the others. He obviously cares for her a lot, so what does it matter if he's her partner? The digignomes thought it was a good idea, so obviously its fine. Besides, I'm tired of hearing you complain about everything like you're cooler than everyone. We've been here two days Luke. Just two. Until we find a way back out of the digital world, we're stuck here. Someone will come looking for us, so calm down."

The digital world. Shadow knew he should have known. He'd seen the devices work several times and had even seen some of the messier ends to those teleportations. He didn't know why they kept teleporting tamers and their partners here, but even if this wasn't the Dark Area where he'd grown up he knew the digital world was somewhere he could keep Leah safe. There weren't as many rules to follow here, even if he was a virus type. He had been under the impression that digimon rangers kept tabs on the digital world and even sometimes sent members here through portals of their own. Obviously they didn't have enough staff to keep up with all of these disappearances, let alone right under their nose.

"Leah is tired and scared," she continued, oblivious to the reptile's thought process. "How would you feel if you were a little kid suddenly lost in the digital world? Huh? I don't care how cool you think you are when you act like this, I'm done with it, got it?"

Luke was left standing there, still surprised after the girl's rant. She fumed, crossing her arms and glaring at him as if daring him to contradict her. He didn't seem to be able to do much of anything at the moment, so he just stared. Then a look of anger passed over his face. He looked ready to say something, only his partner's hand on his shoulder quickly made him stop before getting himself into even more trouble with the girl. Feeling the rain coming down harder though, Shadow stepped forward, laying his head a moment on the girl's shoulder. He could feel Leah shivering in the freezing downpour and sighed.

"We should get out of the rain," he said quietly, making everyone but Hailey jump as if they hadn't expected him to be a sentient digimon like the rest of them.

"What did you mean, 'not like the others'?" Leah asked innocently, looking up at the older children and digimon.

Honestly, Shadow didn't know either, so he was surprised to see them all deadpan at the tiny voice. For a while they all seemed to stare at her, as if surprised that she couldn't know of something that they obviously all deemed as so important. Only Jay, who was not much older than her, also looked confused at the subject. Then Hailey smiled sadly at her, stepping forward and petting the girl's hair quietly again. She looked at her partner for help, who just shrugged and didn't seem to know what else to do.

"Let's get inside first," she said quietly.

With that, she took the girl's hand and started leading her off in another direction, presumably towards some sort of shelter. Mentally shrugging and seeing now harm in it, Shadow simply silently turned to follow the girl, her partner eying him warily. Not that he wasn't already used to such looks. The rest turned to follow as well one by one, leaving nothing behind on the beach but some prints that would soon be washed away.

* * *

 **So there's the end of chapter two. Abrupt? Kind of. But also necessary for the plot. All these kids are lost in the digital world and pretty far away from any place that could easily get them home. Wouldn't be much of an adventure story without that, would it? The people in black are going to be super important in the story, as well as the explanation of what happened ten years ago which will happen next chapter. I've already dropped some hints towards the plot that you might not notice, but you'll understand later. Thanks for reading and leave a review if you'd like to. I'm trying to improve my writing style.**


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